'Secret Life Of' mixes history, TMZ

Latest News

Bill Harris, QMI Agency

Aug 30, 2012

, Last Updated: 3:09 PM ET

While discussing the recent Prince Harry scandal regarding his naked pictures in Las Vegas, someone said to me, "That sort of stuff has been going on forever, the only difference now is that everyone has cell-phone cameras."

To which I added, "Yes, and also in the old days of the monarchy, after partying hard with naked women, the kings and princes simply had the girls killed."

So maybe things are kind of better now, huh?

Anyway, this brings us to the new series The Secret Life Of..., which debuts Friday on History Television. It's a fun, light-hearted look at well-known figures from the past, examining their lives and indiscretions through the lens of how things would have been covered if paparazzi and TMZ and Kardashians had existed at the time.

The first episode focuses on none other than Henry VIII of England, whose exploits make Prince Harry look like something of a choir boy by comparison. Others on tap for The Secret Life Of "¦ include Napoleon, Caligula and Elizabeth I.

It all makes you wonder: Have people always been the same, and the only thing that's different now is that the media -- especially social media -- gives shy bystanders more of an opportunity to be voyeurs and live vicariously?

Well, one thing for certain is that, if someone had taken pictures of a naked Henry VIII in Las Vegas, he probably would have had a more extreme reaction and solution, given his history with wives.